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In 2000, Former MLB P/OF Rick Ankiel had a complete meltdown during a playoff start for the St. Louis Cardinals, throwing five wild pitches in one inning against the Atlanta Braves.
During a recent promotional interview for his book, The Phenomenon: Pressure, The Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, Ankiel opened up about struggling with the yips, and admitted to drinking vodka before games the following season in order to calm his nerves.
Rick Ankiel drank a bunch of vodka before a game because of the yips. https://t.co/qdUYIwbWWS pic.twitter.com/OBYCDVDC8Z
— VICE Sports (@VICESports) February 20, 2017
Ankiel told 590 The Fan in St. Louis:
“Before that game, I’m scared to death. I know I have no chance. Feeling the pressure of all that, right before the game I get a bottle of vodka. I just started drinking vodka. Low and behold, it kind of tamed the monster, and I was able to do what I wanted. I’m sitting on the bench feeling kind of crazy I have to drink vodka to pitch through this. It worked for that game.”
Rick Ankiel told @TMASTL he drank a bottle of vodka before his first start of ’01, after his ’00 postseason collapse. He beat Randy Johnson. pic.twitter.com/ktR6njPAF9
— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) February 20, 2017
“It was one of those things like the yips, the monster, the disease. It didn’t fight fair, so I felt like I wasn’t going to fight fair either.”
Ankiel ultimately gave up pitching and became an incredibly solid defensive outfielder. He retired following the 2013 season.
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